Mistakes Have Been Made II

[Sonereal]

Mistakes Have Been Made I


Ah....the joys of playing with Ottomans. Financially sound once you build up the infrastructure a bit and in an extremely strategic area. To the north is the mighty, but poor Russian Empire. To the west, wedged between your three claims, is British Egypt and to the farthest west of your claims is French North Africa.

And finally, to the northwest, is Romania and Austria-Hungary

But there are flaws. The ability to industrialize has been hampered by coal shortages. The demand of coal for ironclads often clash with those needing the coal for factories. Frigates are still the norm for the Ottomans. Militarily, things are only a little better. Janissaries are powerful, but feel mightily out of place in the world of riflemen.

The first six turns are mildy peaceful....until the Russians and their Romania ally decides to launch an anti-humantarian intervention on a strategic citadel overlooking an iron and coal mine along with an horse pasture. To the south, from Greece, an invasion is in the works but it looks like they're sitting this one out....

Never fear Ottomans, for you are not alone! The Germans and their Austrian-Hungarian ally are taking the fight to Russia while your allies of Finland and Norway come to your aid in the Northern Seas.

Russia faces a dreaded three-front war. Suddenly, Romania is nervous. Hoping for a short war, the Hungarian Army runs into a make-shift line of trenches and are repulsed by cannon fire from the Iron Citadel. To make matters worst, the Hungarians are coming. Fighting rages on Russia's southern border as

Ottoman Janissaries defend their homes from the Imperialist invaders.

"Outnumbered? Check. Outgunned? Check. Home-field advantage? We got this."​

The Tabriz Cannon is what saved the Ottomans here. The Russian mid-section was hit with cannon fire and the Russian western-flank flees the fighting. In the end, however, only the Janissary survives as the Riflemen are greatly weakened by the battle and bombarded by a city the next turn. The Janissary were out of range of attack and fully healed but they had to retreat as there weren't enough men for a push.

It isn't long until Sopfia is surrounded and overwhelm by Ottomans. After the battle, the Russians sue for peace on two of its three fronts. Romania is forsaken as the Russians make a white peace with the Ottomans but a comprehensive peace with Germany. Norway and Sweden continue their war at sea with Russia and now Russia can focus on only Scandinavia but will Russia manage to gain a foothold before Romania falls and aid starts flowing into Noway and Sweden? Wait, are the Greeks now trying to stir up trouble?

Short answer: No. Romania falls is quick fashion and the Ottomans turn to their attention to the uppity Greece. The Greco-Ottoman War has begun.

​

 

[Sonereal]

Soloniki, a city of very little importance before, is now the most important city ever, comrades because this is where we shall crush the Athenas invaders! How dare they exploit the fact I didn't notice I was at war with them.

"Ottoman foreign policy at work."​

Just when things look dire....or inconvenient. Just inconvenient. A Great Merchant starts (another) Golden Age which didn't really help the fact that I have the weakest production base in the world. Actually, the war is such a small thing to me that the Research Agreement I signed with Rome was more interesting. Hell, I got so bored I negotiated a peace between Russia and the city-states she was at war with.

"She tacked on another 100 gold when I said no to opening my borders."​

While we were away in Russia, the Greek Army was smashed at the border and now the Ottomans are massing up for an invasion. Oh, and then England declared war on France and after a few half-hearted attempts at invasion by both sides, the war ended. Oh, and France conquered most of Iberia. Seriously.

"I'm dead serious. He did this two turns after war was declared."​

And then-whoops. Athenas was conquered. Seriously, I totally forgot about that war. Didn't it end two turns ago? Anyway, Athenas in mine and now I'm turning my attention back to Russia. As you can plainly see from the minimap, Russia is beast and I'm going to hate slugging my way to Moscow. Russia now has infantry and with their UA, Russia can quickly become too powerful but I can't tame the beast alone, or even with just my wonderful Nordic allies. No, I'm going to have to sign a pact with an old friend.

The Germans.

The High Seas Fleet combined with the few ironclads I know the Vikings have and I'm sure that they'll have an embargo on Russia's northern ports sooner or later. Meanwhile, I'll have control of the seas by default in my area of the world unless the English intervene on the side of the Russians.

So far, the English and French are enemies.The Germans and Ottomans stand against the Russians. So the wild card is Italy.

If the English side with the Russians, then the French will probably ally with the Germans and Ottomans and boom, Europe versus England and England will lose Egypt sooner or later. If the English side with the Central Powers, then that'll create a two-front war for the Germans and frankly, wouldn't do the Central Powers much good.

And then there's Italy. Always Italy. The Italians haven't shown loyalties to either side. If they show it to Russia though, Romans will be speaking German in a few years. If they side with us, awesome. If they're friends with Austria-Hungary, that'll massively boost manpower on the Eastern Front.
----------------------

The War Room

​

Here is the plan:

Phase 1
-The fort to the west of Tblisi will be claimed ASAP to protect the force's western flank. Meanwhile, Tblisi will be sieged and taken.

-A massive force will land at Rostov that will be able to take the city and support further operations without the aid of Tbilisi or Odessa forces. The coal mines near the city will be protected.

-Odessa must be taken. It will be blockaded and will be used as a stepping stone to taking Kiev.

Phase 2

-Odessa forces will march on Kiev and take the city. The city controls an important crossroad. Which is good because once Odessa falls, a force will immediately be sent to take the fort to the west.

-Tbilisi forces will have funneled through the mountains by now and linked up with the Rostov forces. Then they will march on Saratov and raze the city.

Final Phase

-The forces that took the fort will march north and lay siege to Minsk. Meanwhile, Kiev/Saratov forces will combine and lay siege to Smolensk. Minsk will be razed.


Of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy.

 

[Sonereal]

The wonderful plan was doomed to fail the next turn when the British became hostile and made threats at the Ottomans. Because of this, the Egyptian-Ottoman borders were militarized. Meanwhile, France conquered Italy.

If the Romanians disliked the Ottomans, they hated the Russians. The Ottomans came in, overthrew the government, and left a puppet state in their wake but the Russians? The Russians had betrayed Romania. Left it to be devoured by the Austrian-Hungarians, the Germans, and the Ottoman Empire. Not only did Russia abandon her, but forgot about it. She didn't come to liberate Romania. Years later, she invaded Austria-Hungary.

The Germans and Ottomans mobilized immediately and while Russia made paltry gains in Austria-Hungary, the war soon ground to a halt. The people of Bucharest clenched their teeth as the proud Ottoman riflemen, Janissaries, and cannons paraded through the streets before marching on Odessa, Russia.

But things have changed. Russia isn't the backwards, military incompetent nation of yesteryear. Ottoman tactics were similar to Napoleonic tactics, riflemen rank and file. These blocks of riflemen collided with Russian infantry with far more powerful bolt action rifles with longer range. The Russians didn't move in block formation into battle; they dug line of trenches.

The only saving grace was the Ottoman Siphai, the bane of the Russian cossacks but they were in short number and soon, the Ottomans had been pushed back by a Russian counterattack. Meanwhile, near Tbilisi, more trenches slowed down the larger Ottoman force. The war had broken down into a bloody stalemate like in Germany and Sweden but there is one area where the Ottomans succeeded.

In the Black Sea, more and more Ottoman ironclads were built and a massive battle broke out. The Ottoman victory was devastating to the Russians, who lost 90% of their Black Seas Fleet, leaving only the very dated wooden frigates of old.

After several years and several hundred thousands of deaths, the war ended in a white peace.

 

[Sonereal]

The Ottoman soldier looked down at his rifle. His unit had been scattered during the doomed bayonet charge. How did it happen? Not that. He knew how the charge fail. He didn't know how his nation fail. He remembered the first Balkan War. His unit was the first line of defense during the Battle for Fort Coal. The Romanians and Russians fought like the Ottomans. Correction: They tried to fight as well as Ottomans but they failed at their pathetic attempt to take down Fort Coal the same way their invasion across the Black Sea failed. To muskets no less!

There had been so much cannon fire. So many Romanians fleeing with their tails between their legs. Then there was the bayonet charge. The one that destroyed the Romanian force. It wasn't a battle back then. It was wholesale slaughter.

Today was the same way, except their rout didn't end with their force being bayonetted to death but that him no good. Thousands of men had died running across the field to just the first trench and even when they reached it, the battle wasn't over. Their soldiers had bayonets just for this kind of attack but the Ottomans had taken the trench. That was when the soldier poked his head over (just for a second) to get a look at what constitued Russia.

Several more rows of trenches and between the trenches were barbed wire. The only saving grace was that the Russians didn't have artillery pieces like the Germans. Then again, the Ottomans didn't either but what they lacked in artillery they made up for with manpower.

The counterattack had been fierce and ended with the Ottomans fleeing and they weren't chased and bayonetted to death. That would've been hard. Russian guns were bolt action and chambered multiple rounds. It hadn't been a slaughter. It went far beyond what could be called slaughter and in the open field, they became prime targets for Russian cannons.

The Battle of Odessa Fields was the second most devastating lost in Ottoman history.

 

[Sonereal]

End Game


The year is 1919. The third French-British War is coming to a close and the Russians have industrialized. The Ottoman Empire has annexed the Romanian puppet state but tensions boil over once again. The Russian Empire attack the Ottoman Empire in mid-June. In the Middle East, near Jerusalem, the British Empire has launched small raids into the Ottoman Empire, destroying plantations and an oil well.

Ottomans have near complete dominance of the seas through the Black Sea Fleet but the fleet is slowly crumbling. Russian and British destroyers are slowly, but surely, being completed and sent to deal the Ottomans a painful blow once they arrive.

January, 1920. The Army of North Africa crosses the Egyptian border but is sent fleeing after a string of defeats. Meanwhile, near Tbilisi, the Russians and Ottomans have fought each other to a standstill. The Ottomans are slowly upgrading their cannons to advanced artillery pieces of French design.

In Ottoman Romania, the situation is worsening rapidly for the Ottomans. The Russian Army outnumbered the paltry Ottoman defenders 4 to 1 and field impressive pieces of artillery. Russian Cossacks continually prove their dominance and as such, trench lines on the Ottoman side are few and far apart. The sea around Odessa is blockaded by Ottoman ironclads that shell both the city and coastal defenders.

The Ottoman situation grows desperate. Lacking the Industrial capacity to maintain the statue quo, the treasury is being opened up to buy massive qualities of French supplies and hire Austrian-Hungarian mercenaries. The countryside around Bucharest, the seat of power in Ottoman Romania, is filled with Russian Cossacks and infantry. Field artillery pieces are slowly moving to place to bombard the city into submission.

The Tbilisi Front is crumbling. Troops are in short supply and the city, wedged between two mountains and surrounded by marsh, is near impossible to assault directly. The older Ottoman cannons lacked the range or power to hit defenders but the French artillery pieces are proving capable of the job. A victory in Tbilisi will mean control of the lightly defended Tbilisi oil fields.

In Western Europe, one powderkeg has been defused between the British and French but a new powderkeg may be due to explode. France, the empire stretching from Paris to Madrid to Lisbon to Morocco to Italy, is turning its eyes east to Germany and British Belgium. If the Ottomans convince the French to invade Germany, the fear of of an Austrian-Hungarian front would disappear. Relations between Germany and the Ottoman Empire cooled greatly. The hypothetical Northern Alliance, containing Russia, Germany, and England is a major threat to both the Ottomans and France. The Ottomans are stretched across the board as is and the French fear that Russian manpower and resources combined with British naval dominance and German production, could decide to war with France and that such a war may result in even the Italians rising up.

Spring approaches and not a day goes by when the Ottomans don't pray for a miracle.

 

[Sonereal]

The British are slowly, but surely, making gains in Scandinavia. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Romanian-Russian border is a bloody slugfest. Its the ultimate showdown of Ottoman cash versus Russian production. The British are growing increasing uneasy about their hold on Egypt. A force of Ottomans have crossed the eastern Egyptian border and destroyed mines in the hills east of Cairo. Meanwhile, near Alexandria, a probing force is testing the waters for full-blown invasion.

By the end of 1920, going into 1921, the six-month war France waged against Germany ended with French occupation of Cologne. The French have turned their attention against the last Italian holdout, the capital of Italy and the former Roman Empire, Rome.

The Ottoman Empire, however, is reaching its breaking point. Inflation is quickly becoming a major power and the fighting has spilled over in Austria-Hungary.

 

[Folket]

That looks like a pretty nice scenario, where can I get it? would love to hear how it plays out.

 

[Sonereal]

That looks like a pretty nice scenario, where can I get it? would love to hear how it plays out.

It's in the scenario section. 1900 Europe. It's very good. City-states allow for minor nations to fill the map and act as neutrals or third parties that can be swung in one direction to the other.

As for how it'll play out....not so well I believe. Even mass buying of infantry just to maintain defenses is going to fail once I run out of money.

The French are dominating and wars in North Africa and the Middle East are incredibly difficult because every hex gives a massive defense penalty.

 

[Sonereal]

​

An artillery battery outside of Bucharest begun shelling Russian trenches inside Russian territory in the summer of 1921, marking a turning point in the war. For over two years, a brutal war of attrition had been waged in Ottoman Romania but soon, Ottoman troop strength had swelled to such numbers that the front lines shifted from the Ottoman Romanian-Russian border to the west where the war is now largely being fought in Austria-Hungary.

Near Tbilisi, the war is still at a standstill. Neither side is commited to the conflict there and the marshes surrounding Tbilisi makes raids difficult for the Ottoman invaders.

Finally, in Egypt, things look dark for the English defenders. Ottomans are raising hell in the hills east of Cairo and the British-Egyptian forces lack the firepower or manpower to retake the hills. West of Alexandria, an Ottoman force is slowly heading to Alexandria. The speed stands in contrast to the breakneck pace of the previous invasion.

The English and Russians refuse to negotiate with the Ottomans. The Italians are at war with the French who have become enemies with everyone in Europe but the Ottomans. The Germans dislike both the French and Ottomans but after the embarrassing short French-German War, the Germans have lost all hope of ever defeating the French.

The English and French are too militarily even to score a lasting defeat on the other. However, the English have scored a string of victories in Scandinavia. The French are posed to conquer Europe. The Italians are fighting a brutal war of survival centered around Rome against the French. The Germans have shown themselves capable of standing against Russia once but Austria-Hungary isn't able to maintain a defense against the Russians and have lost a city to Russian invaders in a previous war. The Germans fear that through Italy, the French will simply steamroll through Austria-Hungary and attack the weak underbelly of the German Reich. The Russians are oddly weak, having been fought to a stalemate by Norwegians, Ottomans, and Germans in every war she's been in.

Finally, the Ottomans are in a dangerous spot. Libya could be invaded easily by the French but for the most part, is safe from the British who have to march through allied German lands to strike at the Ottomans. The French deny access to the British trying to pass through into the Mediterranean, a major problem for the British defenders in Egypt but a great deal for the Ottomans. The Ottomans are able to fight the Russians to a stalemate despite being technologically backwards compared to the rest of Europe.

 

[Sonereal]

In 1922, the planet is hit by an asteroid, destroying it completly. Translation: Despite the fact I haven't messed with any of the mods active, Civ5 has deemed my mods incompatible with my save and won't let me load it.



Meaning? I will have to turn the internet off whenever I decide to play Civ5 just to make sure.

 

[Folket]

I'm unable to find the scenario section. =(

 

[Folket]

I found my way to it now. For some reason in this scenario my graphics was messed up and it crashed after a while. Otherwise it looked really interesting.

I'm sorry about your game.

 

[CrazyCelt]

Dang I was hoping to play this seemed interesting.

 

[Sonereal]

Dang I was hoping to play this seemed interesting.

Meh. It's alright I suppose. It gives me a chance to do something a little different. I'm already playing a game which my next AAR/story will be based on. Gigantic map, archipelagos, 22 civilizations and 32 city-states.

Whole butch of fun there. Too bad turn times are insane because of worker spam.

 

[Me,myself,and,I]

But there are only 20 civs. how do you do twenty two?

 

[Sonereal]

But there are only 20 civs. how do you do twenty two?

Duplicates.